US is becoming highest tariff country in the world: Fareed Zakaria warns of 'slowbalisation decade'
Fareed Zakaria noted that while global interdependence isn't vanishing, the pace of integration is slowing amid rising protectionism
- Aug 3, 2025,
- Updated Aug 3, 2025 12:29 PM IST
The United States is on course to become the highest tariff-imposing country in the world, author and political commentator Fareed Zakaria has warned, as President Donald Trump's second-term trade agenda triggers what he calls a decade-long shift toward "slowbalisation."
"We are living through an age of backlash, backlash to 30 years of globalization, massive technological change, cultural change. And I think we’re in that for a while," Zakaria said during a conversation with political scientist Ian Bremmer. "I don't think this is a blip. I think we are going to see 10 years at least of slowbalisation, not deglobalization, but a much slower pace, and a much more political economy."
Trump has slapped tariffs on a host of nations, including India. He has imposed a 25% tariff on the Indian goods entering America, while 39% on Switzerland. Other nations hit include Canada (35%), Brazil (50%), and Taiwan (20%). Trump's latest tariff escalation is the steepest protectionist move since the 1930s.
Zakaria noted that while global interdependence isn't vanishing, the pace of integration is slowing amid rising protectionism. "The place where [tariffs] are the most substantial right now is the United States of America. We are becoming the highest-tariff country in the world. And that is going to be a substantial shift in the world economy," he said.
He said Trump's worldview — deeply suspicious of free trade, immigration, and global commitments — has already altered America's role in the global system. "Trump has for 40 years had one consistent, ideologically coherent position. He’s a protectionist," Zakaria said, adding that "Trump 1 the Republican establishment. This time, he’s unconstrained. He's going to do it."
According to Zakaria, the shift away from openness will create "small inefficiencies" in some sectors but "very substantial" ones in others, especially in the U.S., where only 15% of GDP is exposed to global trade. "If you shelter your best companies behind 15, 20% tariff walls, they're just not going to be as competitive," he said. "That’s what I worry because America’s great strength… we know how to let the economy go gangbusters. We know how to innovate at the highest level."
He warned that the U.S., once the beating heart of the free trade movement, now risks isolating itself. "The US was the country that forced all the other countries in the world to open their markets… I think it moves the world economy in a bad place. It moves it towards much more political interference, much more corruption.”
The author noted that China, facing what he called "soft containment" from the U.S., has now moved to assert itself by tightening ties with Russia, seeking supply chain independence, and deepening ties across the Global South. "Trump is so disruptive and he's been so tough on the Chinese… the tariffs are effectively an embargo. Their feeling is, things are getting disrupted anyway. And we gotta protect ourselves."
Zakaria concluded that the U.S. no longer sets the global agenda in the way it did post-1945. "While the US has gone off on this different model, the rest of the world is not taking America’s lead...they're trying to freelance on their own and figure out how to make deals," he said.
The United States is on course to become the highest tariff-imposing country in the world, author and political commentator Fareed Zakaria has warned, as President Donald Trump's second-term trade agenda triggers what he calls a decade-long shift toward "slowbalisation."
"We are living through an age of backlash, backlash to 30 years of globalization, massive technological change, cultural change. And I think we’re in that for a while," Zakaria said during a conversation with political scientist Ian Bremmer. "I don't think this is a blip. I think we are going to see 10 years at least of slowbalisation, not deglobalization, but a much slower pace, and a much more political economy."
Trump has slapped tariffs on a host of nations, including India. He has imposed a 25% tariff on the Indian goods entering America, while 39% on Switzerland. Other nations hit include Canada (35%), Brazil (50%), and Taiwan (20%). Trump's latest tariff escalation is the steepest protectionist move since the 1930s.
Zakaria noted that while global interdependence isn't vanishing, the pace of integration is slowing amid rising protectionism. "The place where [tariffs] are the most substantial right now is the United States of America. We are becoming the highest-tariff country in the world. And that is going to be a substantial shift in the world economy," he said.
He said Trump's worldview — deeply suspicious of free trade, immigration, and global commitments — has already altered America's role in the global system. "Trump has for 40 years had one consistent, ideologically coherent position. He’s a protectionist," Zakaria said, adding that "Trump 1 the Republican establishment. This time, he’s unconstrained. He's going to do it."
According to Zakaria, the shift away from openness will create "small inefficiencies" in some sectors but "very substantial" ones in others, especially in the U.S., where only 15% of GDP is exposed to global trade. "If you shelter your best companies behind 15, 20% tariff walls, they're just not going to be as competitive," he said. "That’s what I worry because America’s great strength… we know how to let the economy go gangbusters. We know how to innovate at the highest level."
He warned that the U.S., once the beating heart of the free trade movement, now risks isolating itself. "The US was the country that forced all the other countries in the world to open their markets… I think it moves the world economy in a bad place. It moves it towards much more political interference, much more corruption.”
The author noted that China, facing what he called "soft containment" from the U.S., has now moved to assert itself by tightening ties with Russia, seeking supply chain independence, and deepening ties across the Global South. "Trump is so disruptive and he's been so tough on the Chinese… the tariffs are effectively an embargo. Their feeling is, things are getting disrupted anyway. And we gotta protect ourselves."
Zakaria concluded that the U.S. no longer sets the global agenda in the way it did post-1945. "While the US has gone off on this different model, the rest of the world is not taking America’s lead...they're trying to freelance on their own and figure out how to make deals," he said.